Guillaume de Machaut was born about 1300, and educated in the region around Reims.

His surname most likely derives from the nearby town of Machault, 30 km northeast of
Reims in the Ardennes region. He was employed as secretary to John I, Count of
Luxembourg and King of Bohemia from 1323 to 1346, and also became a canon (1337).
He often accompanied King John on his various trips, many of them military expeditions
around Europe (including Prague). He was named the canon of Verdun in 1330, Arras in
1332, and Reims in 1337. By 1340, Machaut was living in Reims, having relinquished his
other canonic posts at the request of Pope Benedict XII. In 1346, King John was killed
fighting at the Battle of Crécy, and Machaut, who was famous and much in demand,
entered the service of various other aristocrats and rulers, including King John's
daughter Bonne (who died of the Black Death in 1349), her sons Jean de Berry and
Charles (later Charles V, Duke of Normandy), and others such as Charles II of Navarre.[3]

Machaut survived the Black Death that devastated Europe, and spent his later years
living in Reims composing and supervising the creation of his complete-works
manuscripts. His poem Le voir dit (probably 1361–1365) purports to recount a late love
affair with a 19-year-old girl, Péronne d'Armentières, although the accuracy of the work
as autobiography is contested.[4] When he died in 1377, other composers such as
François Andrieu wrote elegies lamenting his death. -medieval
Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. 1150s — d. ? 1201) was the first known significant composer of
polyphonic organum. He was probably French, probably lived and worked in Paris at the Notre Dame
Cathedral and was the earliest member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the ars antiqua style
who is known by name. The name Léonin is derived from "Leoninus," which is the Latin diminutive of
the name Leo; therefore it is likely that Léonin's given French name was Léo.

All that is known about him comes from the writings of a later student at the cathedral known as
Anonymous IV, an Englishman who left a treatise on theory and who mentions Léonin as the composer
of the Magnus Liber, the "great book" of organum. Much of the Magnus Liber is devoted to clausulae—
melismatic portions of Gregorian chant which were extracted into separate pieces where the original
note values of the chant were greatly slowed down and a fast-moving upper part is superimposed.
Léonin might have been the first composer to use the rhythmic modes, and may have invented a
notation for them. According to W.G. Waite, writing in 1954: "It was Léonin's incomparable achievement
to introduce a rational system of rhythm into polyphonic music for the first time, and, equally important,
to create a method of notation expressive of this rhythm."[1]

The Magnus Liber was intended for liturgical use. According to Anonymous IV, "Magister Leoninus
(Léonin) was the finest composer of organum; he wrote the great book (Magnus Liber) for the gradual
and antiphoner for the sacred service." All of the Magnus Liber is for two voices, although little is known
about actual performance practice: the two voices were not necessarily soloists.

According to Anonymous IV, Léonin's work was improved and expanded by the later composer Pérotin.
See also Medieval music.

The musicologis Craig M. Wright believes that Léonin may have been the same person as a
contemporaneous Parisian poet, Leonius, after whom Leonine verse may have been named. This could
make Léonin's use of meter even more significant. -medieval
Adam de la Halle, also known as Adam le Bossu (Adam the
Hunchback) (1240 – 1287)[1] was a French-born trouvère, poet
and musician. Adam's literary and musical works include
chansons and jeux-partis (poetic debates) in the style of the
trouvères; polyphonic rondel and motets in the style of early
liturgical polyphony; and a musical play, "Jeu de Robin et
Marion" (c. 1282–83), which is considered the earliest surviving
secular French play with music. He was a member of the
Confrérie des jongleurs et bourgeois d'Arras. -medieval
Pérotin, about whom little is known, most likely lived around the end of the 12th and beginning of the
13th century and is presumed to have been French.[4] The only definitive information on his life comes
from a brief mention attributed to the musical theorist Johannes de Garlandia(fl.c.1270–132) in his De
Mensurabili Musica, and four references[9] in the works of an English student, known today as
Anonymous IV, including this, most commonly cited paragraph

These rules were used in many older books; this was so during and after the time of Perotinus the Great.
Nevertheless, they did not know how to distinguish these notes from those which will be presented
shortly. This was so even since the time of Leo, because two ligated notes were put for the durational
value of a brevis longa, and in a similar manner, three ligated notes were quite often used for a longa
brevis, longa. People say Maître Leonin was the best composer of Organum (optimus organista), he
composed the Great Organum Book for the gradual and antiphonary in order to prolong the divine
service. This book remained in use until the time of the great Perotin who abridged it and composed
clausules and sections that were many in number and better because he was the best composer of
descant (optimus discantor). This Magister Perotinus made the best quadrupla, such as Viderunt and
Sederunt, with an abundance of striking musical embellishments [colores armonicae artis]; likewise, the
noblest tripla, such as Alleluia, Posui adiutorium and [Alleluia], Nativitas etc. He also made three-voice
conductus, such as Salvatoris hodie, and two-voice conductus, such as Dum sigillum summi Patris, and
also, among many others, monophonic conductus, such as Beata viscera etc. The book, that is, the books
of Magister Perotinus, were in use in the choir of the Paris cathedral of the Blessed Virgin up to the time
of Magister Robertus de Sabilone,[e] and from his time up to the present day.

There have been many speculative attempts to identify Pérotin with members of the Notre Dame
administration,[g] but these have not generally been accept] Of the several people with that name
(Petrus) that have been suggested, the commonest are Petrus Cantor (died 1197), a theologian and a
Petrus, who was Succentor at Notre Dame ca. 1207–1238. Of these two, Petrus Succentor has been
suggested as more probable, in part on chronological grounds, and partly because of the succentor's
role in overseeing the celebration of the liturgy in the cathedral (whose choir was dedicated 1182),[4]
but this is purely speculative, resting on an assumption that the composer held some important rank in
the cathedral hierarchy. -madieval
Youth

Abelard, originally called "Pierre le Pallet", was born c. 1079 in Le Pallet,[4] about 10 miles (16 km) east
of Nantes, in Brittany, the eldest son of a minor noble French family. As a boy, he learned quickly. His
father, a knight called Berenger, encouraged Pierre to study the liberal arts, wherein he excelled at the
art of dialectic (a branch of philosophy), which, at that time, consisted chiefly of the logic of Aristotle
transmitted through Latin channels. Instead of entering a military career, as his father had done, Abelard
became an academic. During his early academic pursuits, Abelard wandered throughout France,
debating and learning, so as (in his own words) "he became such a one as the Peripatetics."[5] He first
studied in the Loire area, where the nominalist Roscellinus of Compiègne, who had been accused of
heresy by Anselm, was his teacher during this period.[3]

Rise to fame

Around 1100, Abelard's travels finally brought him to Paris. In the great cathedral school of Notre-Dame
de Paris (before the current cathedral was actually built), he was taught for a while by William of
Champeaux, the disciple of Anselm of Laon (not to be confused with Saint Anselm), a leading proponent
of Realism.[3] During this time he changed his surname to "Abelard", sometimes written "Abailard" or
"Abaelardus". Retrospectively, Abelard portrays William as having turned from approval to hostility
when Abelard proved soon able to defeat the master in argument;[a] Abelard was, however, closer to
William's thought than this account suggests.[6] And William thought Abelard was too arrogant.[7] It
was during this time that Abelard would provoke quarrels with both William and Roscellinus.[4] Against
opposition from the metropolitan teacher, Abelard set up his own school, first at Melun, a favoured
royal residence, then, around 1102-4, for more direct competition, he moved to Corbeil, nearer Paris.[5]

His teaching was notably successful, though for a time he had to give it up and spend time in Brittany,
the strain proving too great for his constitution. On his return, after 1108, he found William lecturing at
the hermitage of Saint-Victor, just outside the Île de la Cité, and there they once again became rivals,
with Abelard challenging William over his theory of universals. Abelard was once more victorious, and
Abelard was almost able to hold the position of master at Notre Dame. For a short time, however,
William was able to prevent Abelard from lecturing in Paris. Abelard accordingly was forced to resume
his school at Melun, which he was then able to move, from c. 1110-12, to Paris itself, on the heights of
Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, overlooking Notre-Dame. -medieval
Johann Sebastian Bach[a] (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and
musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Art of Fugue,
the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew
Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as
one of the greatest composers of the Western art musical canon.[3]

The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of
a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at age 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother
Johann Christoph Bach, after which he continued his musical development in Lüneburg. From 1703 he
was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and,
for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar—where he expanded his repertoire for the organ—and
Köthen—where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723 he was employed as
Thomaskantor (cantor at St. Thomas) in Leipzig. He composed music for the principal Lutheran churches
of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some
of his keyboard music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult
relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court
composer by his sovereign, Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades
of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after
eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.

Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic
organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy
and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular.[4] He composed
Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his
larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and sacred songs. He wrote extensively
for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for

harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ
contrapuntal genres such as fugue. - baroque
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (/ˈhændəl/;[a] born Georg Friederich Händel[b] [ˈɡeːɔɐ̯k ˈfʁiːdʁɪç
ˈhɛndl ̩] (About this soundlisten); 23 February 1685 (O.S.) [(N.S.) 5 March] – 14 April 1759)[2][c] was a
German, later British, Baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well
known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in
Halle-upon-Saale and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he
became a naturalised British subject in 1727.[5] He was strongly influenced both by the great composers
of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English
nobility with Italian opera. Musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that "Handel was not
only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order."[6] As Alexander's Feast (1736) was
well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742)
he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty
years, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was
buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the
greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the
Royal Fireworks remaining steadfastly popular.[7] One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest
(1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British
coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon
(1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as "The
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba") featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel
composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of
baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown.

-baroque
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice,[7] then the capital of the Venetian Republic.
He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which led to a belief that his life
was somehow in danger. Though the reasons for the child's immediate baptism are not known for
certain, it was done most likely due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that shook the city that
day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi's mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood.[8]
The ceremonies which had been omitted were supplied two months later.[9]

Vivaldi's parents were Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the register of San
Giovanni in Bragora.[10] Vivaldi had eight siblings: Iseppo Santo Vivaldi, Iseppo Gaetano Vivaldi,
Bonaventura Tomaso Vivaldi, Margarita Gabriela Vivaldi, Cecilia Maria Vivaldi, Gerolama Michela Vivaldi,
Francesco Gaetano Vivaldi, and Zanetta Anna Vivaldi.[11][failed verification] Giovanni Battista, who was
a barber before becoming a professional violinist, taught Antonio to play the violin and then toured
Venice playing the violin with his young son. Antonio was probably taught at an early age, judging by the
extensive musical knowledge he had acquired by the age of 24, when he started working at the
Ospedale della Pietà.[12] Giovanni Battista was one of the founders of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di
Santa Cecilia, an association of musicians.[13]

The president of the Sovvegno was Giovanni Legrenzi, an early Baroque composer and the maestro di
cappella at St Mark's Basilica. It is possible that Legrenzi gave the young Antonio his first lessons in
composition. The Luxembourg scholar Walter Kolneder has discerned the influence of Legrenzi's style in
Vivaldi's early liturgical work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31), written in 1691 at the age of thirteen. Vivaldi's
father may have been a composer himself: in 1689, an opera titled La Fedeltà sfortunata was composed
by a Giovanni Battista Rossi—the name under which Vivaldi's father had joined the Sovvegno di Santa
Cecilia.[14]

Vivaldi's health was problematic. One of his symptoms, strettezza di petto ("tightness of the chest"), has
been interpreted as a form of asthma.[9] This did not prevent him from learning to play the violin,
composing, or taking part in musical activities,[9] although it did stop him from playing wind
instruments. In 1693, at the age of fifteen, he began studying to become a priest.[15] He was ordained
in 1703, aged 25, and was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest".[16] (Rosso is Italian for
"red", and would have referred to the color of his hair, a family trait.) -baroque
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (Italian: [ˈklaudjo monteˈverdi] (About this soundlisten); 15 May
1567 (baptized) – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, string player and choirmaster. A
composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is
considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods of music
history.

Born in Cremona, where he undertook his first musical studies and compositions, Monteverdi developed
his career first at the court of Mantua (c. 1590–1613) and then until his death in the Republic of Venice
where he was maestro di cappella at the basilica of San Marco. His surviving letters give insight into the
life of a professional musician in Italy of the period, including problems of income, patronage and
politics.

Much of Monteverdi's output, including many stage works, has been lost. His surviving music includes
nine books of madrigals, large-scale sacred works such as his Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers) of
1610, and three complete operas. His opera L'Orfeo (1607) is the earliest of the genre still widely
performed; towards the end of his life he wrote works for the commercial theatre in Venice, including Il
ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea.

While he worked extensively in the tradition of earlier Renaissance polyphony, such as in his madrigals,
he undertook great developments in form and melody, and began to employ the basso continuo
technique, distinctive of the Baroque. No stranger to controversy, he defended his sometimes novel
techniques as elements of a seconda pratica, contrasting with the more orthodox earlier style which he
termed the prima pratica. Largely forgotten during the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth
centuries, his works enjoyed a rediscovery around the beginning of the twentieth century. He is now
established both as a significant influence in European musical history and as a composer whose works
are regularly performed and recorded.

-baroque
Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster – the area of
London later known as Devil's Acre – in 1659. Henry Purcell Senior,[2] whose
older brother, Thomas Purcell, (died 1682) was a musician, was a gentleman of
the Chapel Royal and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England.[3]
Henry the elder had three sons: Edward, Henry and Daniel. Daniel Purcell,[3] the
youngest of the brothers, was also a prolific composer who wrote the music for
much of the final act of The Indian Queen after Henry Purcell's death. Henry
Purcell's family lived just a few hundred yards west of Westminster Abbey from
1659 onwards.[4]

After his father's death in 1664, Purcell was placed under the guardianship of his
uncle Thomas, who showed him great affection and kindness.[5] Thomas was
himself a gentleman of His Majesty's Chapel, and arranged for Henry to be
admitted as a chorister. Henry studied first under Captain Henry Cooke,[6] Master
of the Children, and afterwards under Pelham Humfrey,[3] Cooke's successor.[7]
The composer Matthew Locke was a family friend and, particularly with his semi-
operas, probably also had a musical influence on the young Purcell. Henry was a
chorister in the Chapel Royal until his voice broke in 1673, when he became
assistant to the organ-builder John Hingston, who held the post of keeper of wind
instruments to the King. –baroque
Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina,[3] near Rome, then part of the Papal States. Documents suggest that
he first visited Rome in 1537, when he is listed as a chorister at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica. He studied with
Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent most of his career in the city.

Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed
its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez,
who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable
fame or skill in polyphony.[2]

From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was the organist of the Cathedral of St. Agapito, the principal church of his native
city. In 1551 Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) appointed Palestrina maestro di cappella or
musical director of the Cappella Giulia,[4] (Julian Chapel, in the sense of choir), the choir of the chapter of canons
at St. Peter's Basilica. Palestrina dedicated to Julius III his first published compositions (1554), a book of Masses. It
was the first book of Masses by a native composer, since in the Italian states of Palestrina's day, most composers
of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, or Spain.[citation needed] In fact the book was modeled on
one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the
Spanish composer.

Facade of St John Lateran, Rome, where Palestrina was musical director

During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and
churches in Rome, notably St. John Lateran (1555–1560, a post previously held by Lassus), and St Mary Major
(1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of his life. The
decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his sons, and his wife in three
separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a
priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to a wealthy widow. This finally gave him financial
independence (he was not well paid as choirmaster) and he was able to compose prolifically until his death.

He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594. As was usual, Palestrina was buried on the same day he died, in a plain coffin
with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part psalm for three choirs was sung at the
funeral.[5] Palestrina's funeral was held at St. Peter's, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica. His tomb
was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate the site have been unsuccessful. - ren
Josquin des Prez (French: [ʒɔskɛ̃ depʁe]; c. 1450/1455 – 27 August 1521), often referred to simply as
Josquin, was a French[2] composer of the Renaissance. His original name is sometimes given as Josquin
Lebloitte and his later name is given under a wide variety of spellings in French, Italian, and Latin,
including Iosquinus Pratensis and Iodocus a Prato. His motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix includes an acrostic
of his name, where he spelled it "Josquin des Prez".[3][4] He was the most famous European composer
between Guillaume Dufay and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and is usually considered to be the
central figure of the Franco-Flemish School. Josquin is widely considered by music scholars to be the first
master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime.

During the 16th century, Josquin gradually acquired the reputation as the greatest composer of the age,
his mastery of technique and expression universally imitated and admired. Writers as diverse as
Baldassare Castiglione and Martin Luther wrote about his reputation and fame, with Luther declaring
that "he is the master of the notes. They must do as he wills; as for the other composers, they have to
do as the notes will." [5] Theorists such as Heinrich Glarean and Gioseffo Zarlino held his style as that
best representing perfection.[6] He was so admired that many anonymous compositions were
attributed to him by copyists, probably to increase their sales.[7] More than 370 works are attributed to
him;[8] it was only after the advent of modern analytical scholarship that some of these attributions
were challenged, and revealed as mistaken, on the basis of stylistic features and manuscript evidence.
Yet in spite of Josquin's colossal reputation, which endured until the beginning of the Baroque era and
was revived in the 20th century, his biography is shadowy, and virtually nothing is known about his
personality. The only surviving work which may be in his own hand is a graffito on the wall of the Sistine
Chapel, and only one contemporary mention of his character is known, in a letter to Duke Ercole I of
Ferrara. The lives of dozens of less revered Renaissance composers are better documented than that of
Josquin. –ren
Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers, but is
distinct from musical theater.[1] Such a "work" (the literal translation of Italian word "opera") is typically
a collaboration between a composer and a librettist[2] and incorporates a number of the performing
arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically
given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the
early 19th century has been led by a conductor.

Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition.[3] Originally understood as an entirely sung
piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that
include spoken dialogue such as musical theater, Singspiel and Opéra comique. In traditional number
opera, singers employ two styles of singing: recitative, a speech-inflected style,[4] and self-contained
arias. The 19th century saw the rise of the continuous music drama.

Opera originated in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's mostly lost Dafne, produced
in Florence in 1598) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Heinrich Schütz in Germany, Jean-
Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in
the 17th century. In the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe (except
France), attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most
prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his
"reform" operas in the 1760s. The most renowned figure of late 18th-century opera is Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian comic operas, especially
The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, as well as Die Entführung
aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), and The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), landmarks in
the German tradition. –ren
William Byrd (/bɜːrd/; birth date variously given as
c.1539/40 or 1543 – 4 July 1623), was an English
composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the
forms current in England at the time, including various
types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard (the so-
called Virginalist school), and consort music. Although he
produced sacred music for Anglican services, sometime
during the 1570s he became a Roman Catholic and wrote
Catholic sacred music later in his life. -ren
Little is known about Tallis' early life. He was born in the early 16th century toward the end of
Henry VII's reign. The name "Tallis" is derived from the French word taillis, which means a
"thicket." There are suggestions that he was a child of the chapel (boy chorister) of the Chapel
Royal, the same singing establishment which he joined as an adult.

Tallis' first known musical appointment was in 1532 as organist of Dover Priory (now Dover
College), a Benedictine priory in Kent.[6] His career took him to London, then to Waltham
Abbey in the autumn of 1538, a large Augustinian monastery in Essex which was dissolved in
1540. He was paid off and acquired a book about music that contained a treatis by Leonel
Power which prohibits consecutive unisons, fifths, and octaves.

Tallis served at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent

Tallis's next post was at Canterbury Cathedral. He was sent to Court as a Gentleman of the
Chapel Royal in 1543, where he composed and performed for Henry VIII,[8] Edward VI (1547–
53), Mary I (1553–58), and Elizabeth I, until he died in 1585.

Tallis avoided the religious controversies that raged around him throughout his service to
successive monarchs, though he remained an "unreformed Roman Catholic", in the words of
Peter Ackroyd. Tallis was capable of switching the style of his compositions to suit the different
monarchs' vastly different demands.] He stood out among other important composers of the
time, including Christopher Tye and Robert White. Walker observes that "he had more
versatility of style" than Tye and White, and "his general handling of his material was more
consistently easy and certain. Tallis was also a teacher of William Byrd and of Elway Bevin, an
organist of Bristol Cathedral and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. –ren